Jaron Ennis is focused on his own unique style ahead of his unified junior middleweight title fight against Xander Zayas. The unbeaten power-puncher rejects ongoing comparisons to Terence Crawford, stating he is a one-of-a-kind fighter preparing for his Brooklyn showdown.
This Saturday, Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) challenges Zayas for the WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles at Barclays Center. As his profile has grown, fans and analysts have frequently compared his versatile, switch-hitting style to that of Crawford, a former undisputed champion. Ennis, however, is not interested in the comparison and is carving his own path.
He said: “I don’t be worrying about that, Ennis told Daily Mail Boxing. I know that I fight like me, don’t nobody fight like me, and I don’t fight like nobody. My style is different from everybody else. I feel like I have got a unique style and can’t nobody do what I do.”
His words are a clear effort to establish his own identity in a sport that constantly seeks neat parallels. For Ennis, the goal is not to be the next version of a past great but the first and only version of himself. He sees the comparisons as a routine part of the fight game, but one that does not reflect his reality in the ring.
The stakes for his fight against Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) are significant. After capturing a piece of the welterweight title, Ennis moved up to 154 pounds and announced his arrival with a first-round knockout of Uisma Lima. A victory over Zayas, the division’s youngest unified champion, would give Ennis two world titles in a second weight class. It would also strengthen his position among boxing’s elite and validate his decision to move up. For Zayas, defeating a feared challenger like Ennis would be a career-defining moment, cementing his status as the undisputed king of the division.
